Forbes columnist Steven Salzberg and author-investigator Joe Nickell will each be awarded the 2012 Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking, to be presented by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry at the CFI Summit in October.

Actors and Actresses

January 13, 2004

The superstitions surrounding actors and actresses were more prevalent in the Middle
Ages, when performances would take place live in a theatre. Apparently theatre actors were
some of the most superstitious people of all time, with thousands upon thousands of
magical beliefs that would dictate their lives and work.

Here's a sample:

Good Luck Superstitions:

It is good luck to wear a wig

Visitors must enter a dressing room with their right foot first

When you leave your dressing room, leave with the left foot first

It is good luck to fall once during a performance

To stave off bad luck during the performance, trip when first going on stage

It is good luck to be pinched before your performance

Have dolls and other lucky charms in the dressing room

If you spill powder, dance on it for good luck

Accidently smear lipstick on your teeth when you are putting it on your lips

If you kick off your shoes and they land on their soles, you will have good luck

A bad rehersal means the performance will be great

It is good luck for someone to wish you "Break a leg!" before the performance

Start a performance thirteen minutes late

Have a cat backstage for luck (although if it runs onstage it means bad luck)

It is good luck to say "shit" or "merde" at least
once during the performance

It is good luck to perform Cinderella

It is good luck for one actor to be a hunchback

Drink champagne on opening night

The same costume should be worn night after night when performances are a success

Bad Luck Superstitions:

It is bad luck to have a play open on a Friday

It is bad luck to open a play on the 13th of the month

It is bad luck to use yellow, green or blue on stage

If shoes are placed on a chair in the dressing room it is bad luck

Having three candles on stage or in the dressing room is bad luck

It is bad luck to leave a piece of soap behind that you've been using on tour

It is bad luck to have real flowers on stage

Do not use real food, drink, or jewelry on stage

Do not open an umbrella on stage

It is bad luck to use the words "turkey" and "bomb"
in the play

It is bad luck to whistle at any time during the performance

It is bad luck to perform Macbeth or Robin Hood

It is bad luck to look over the shoulder of another actor while they apply makeup

Do not have pictures in the dressing room

People should not knit near the stage

It is bad luck to have a picture of an ostrich on stage

It is bad luck to wear peacock feathers

Do not quote the last word of a forthcoming play before the performance

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